New Zealand greenhouse gas emissions summary data, 1990 and 2015
Publisher
New Zealand's Environment Reporting Series: The Ministry for the Environment and Statistics New Zealand
Description
New Zealand greenhouse gas emissions data for 1990 and 2015. Data are sourced from the 1990–2015 New Zealand Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory. Emissions are provided by sector (Energy, Indistrail processes and product use, Agriculture, Land–use, land–use change and Forestry; and Waste) and sector subcategory. Equivalents are calculated using IPCC 2007 global warming potential values. IPCC 2004 global warming potential values were used during conversion to CO2 equivalents. Greenhouse gases (GHGs) absorb heat from Earth’s surface, warming the atmosphere and changing our climate. New Zealand’s share of GHG emissions is very small, but our gross emissions per person are high. Emissions mainly come from combustion of fossil fuels that emit carbon dioxide (CO2), and agriculture which emits methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O). Carbon dioxide remains in the atmosphere much longer than other major GHGs. Because of this, today’s global CO2 emissions will continue to influence atmospheric CO2 concentrations for a very long time. Methane and N2O trap heat better than CO2 but leave the atmosphere faster. Reducing emissions of CH4 and N2O will decrease concentrations in the atmosphere more quickly.Greenhouse gases (GHGs) absorb heat from Earth’s surface, warming the atmosphere and changing our climate. New Zealand’s share of GHG emissions is very small, but our gross emissions per person are high. Emissions mainly come from combustion of fossil fuels that emit carbon dioxide (CO2), and agriculture which emits methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O). Carbon dioxide remains in the atmosphere much longer than other major GHGs. Because of this, today’s global CO2 emissions will continue to influence atmospheric CO2 concentrations for a very long time. Methane and N2O trap heat better than CO2 but leave the atmosphere faster. More information on this dataset and how it relates to our Environmental reporting indicators and topics can be found in the attached data quality pdf.
